Thursday, June 19, 2014

It's All About The Rage

The best part about attending your teams sporting event is that you get to loud, a little obnoxious, and throw some criticism at the opposing team and it’s all considered good fun. At what point though do you start to worry about spectators and athletes becoming so infuriated that violence is the answer? What is called, “sports rage”, among athletes and spectators can be seen at all levels, from little league to the professionals.

Two peewee teams were pulled from the playoffs when everyone apparently lost their minds. In the heat of the moment ,7 and 8 year olds were being verbally abused, leading to adults threatening each other and ultimately, a massive brawl. As we grow older one would think that, as an individual contributing to society, we would learn how to control ourselves at any event. However this doesn't stop violence at sporting events as we constantly hear about over enthusiastic fans helping out their team by any means necessary or athletes losing their composure like this guy (video below).  One of the most shocking sports stories inducing a hell like fury on the field happened in Brazil when a referee was dismembered and decapitated.



When these aggressive stories are compared to the most common reasons of attending a sporting event (socializing, entertainment, promotions, team spirit, etc) it’s surprising to find such destructive actions at first since the reasoning of this was to build a positive environment. Like all things in life, too much of a good thing can become something bad fairly quickly. Adrenaline rushing through an athlete’s veins during an emotional game, spectators protecting their own identity as well as their favorite teams, or the regular accounts of aggression escalating in many sports can take the blame for “sports rage”. 

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